Our Team Bios

Pastor Laura grew up on the coast of Florida, graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Family and Child Sciences, and became a transplant to North Carolina through Duke Divinity School where she earned her M.Div. and became a proud United Methodist.  She has been a pastor in the North Carolina Conference of the UMC since 2011 and began serving at Apex UMC in 2019.  Laura is passionate about inspiring and empowering people to connect with God throughout the ups and downs of their everyday lives.  She is deeply honored to preach, teach, and shepherd the program ministries at Apex UMC.

Laura is married to Kevin, a United Methodist pastor serving Macedonia UMC in Cary, and together they have two delightful daughters and a sweet-hearted beagle named Donut.  In her free time, Laura loves to write and read, and she is always up for active outdoor adventures with her family.

Pastor Danny grew up as the “son of a preacher man” in the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. As the youngest of three sons, he was frequently asked if he was going to become a minister like his dad, to which he politely answered “no”. But of course God usually has plans better than our own!

Danny graduated from High Point University in 1981 with a BS in Mathematics followed by a MS in Computer Science from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1983. At UNC, Danny met Teri, his bride of over 41 years, one day when she “lost a glove but found love”. Teri and Danny have three grown children – Andrew, Patrick, and Paige – all of which grew up as part of the Apex UMC family after the Berriers joined the church in 1993.

Danny’s IT career took them to a number of cities across the US and finally to the Triangle. When working for HP, Danny accepted a call to pastoral ministry after many years at Apex UMC teaching Sunday school, Disciple Bible study, and serving as church historian among many other leadership positions. In 2013, Danny and Teri left Apex UMC for a new life serving as a licensed local pastor for a two-point charge in western Chatham County. In 2016, Danny was appointed to the Chatham-Cedar Grove charge (centered around Pittsboro) and served those congregations and the Pittsboro community for over 8 years.

In May 2024, Pastor Danny returned to Apex UMC to serve as our Missions & Congregational Care Pastor. In this role his focus is on visitation with both members of our family and community and service to coordinate our missions outreach locally and around the world.

Teri continues to participate in the life of Apex UMC and is well known for her gift of ministry with children and her love of quilting and making homemade bread! Danny hopes to see Apex UMC continue to grow in our love of God and our neighbors as we Welcome All, Love All and Serve All.

Arts, Todd plans weekly worship services in the sanctuary and oversees a vibrant worship arts ministry that includes multiple vocal and handbell choirs for adults, youth, and children. He earned the Bachelor of Music Degree (Church Music) from Furman University, the Master of Music Degree (Choral Conducting) from Emory University, and the Doctor of Worship Studies Degree from the Institute for Worship Studies. Prior to joining the staff at Apex UMC, Todd served as the Associate Director of Music at Peachtree Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. 

Outside of his church responsibilities, Todd is the director of the Glenaires, a 50-voice senior adult choir at Glenaire Retirement Community in Cary, NC. Since 2015, he has served on the National Board of Directors for Choristers Guild, a non-profit organization based in Dallas, TX that enables leaders to nurture the spiritual and musical growth of children, youth, and adults. In 2024, he begins a two-year term as President of the Board of Directors.

Todd is married to Allison Arant, a Senior Vice President at Clearway Health, and they share their home in Apex with three children: Clarkson, Anna Rast, and Sims.

Coming Soon!

Katie Byers-Dent hails from Wisconsin, where she grew up the daughter of a United Methodist pastor. After earning her B.A. in English from the University of Iowa, she moved to North Carolina to attend Duke Divinity, where she earned a Masters of Divinity. Her work within the church is to equip people to serve through the stewardship of the church’s most tangible resources: our facilities, finances, and workflows. 

Prior to Apex, she served on staff of United Methodist congregations in downtown Durham. In addition, she has worked as a freelance communications consultant and writer for church planting initiatives, Christian publishing houses, and DITA, a theology & the arts research initiative out of Duke Divinity. Katie holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University and is a working author.

Donna Colville and family joined AUMC on 20 September 2014. My family and I started attending AUMC in 2011 and immediately signed up as volunteers for audio visual. Donna became the volunteer AV Coordinator soon after joining the AV team and started building media and scheduling and training volunteers who joined the AV Team for both Contemporary and Traditional teams. Donna is employed by AUMC as the AV Coordinator, by the Wake County Public School System as an Assistant Manager at Salem Elementary, and by the Town of Apex, Parks and Recreation, as an AV Tech and limited service employee. 

Donna is married to John Taylor, telephone salesman for Charter Communications, and they share their home in Holly Springs with one child, Regan, a student at Wake Technical Community College.

Amanda has been an educator for 18 years.  She taught kindergarten for many years before coming to work at AUMC Preschool as the transitional kindergarten teacher.  Now as the preschool’s director, she finds so much joy in supporting the amazing staff, helping the children learn & grow and cultivating lasting relationships with the families.  Amanda and her husband, Eric live in Apex with their three beautiful daughters.  They also have a giant lap dog named Penny, who is a goofy, white lab mix.  Amanda loves childrens books, thrift/antique shopping, listening to podcasts, and gardening.

Ellen Griffin grew up in Abingdon, Virginia, where sheep and cattle still graze on the family farm.  At the University of Virginia, Ellen earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Master of Education. Ellen was an active member of the Wesley Foundation at UVA, where she met her husband, Dan (who holds Chemical Engineering degrees from both NC State and UVA).  Ellen has taught in both public and private schools in preschool through upper elementary grades.  In 2004, the couple moved to this area and quickly found a church home at Apex UMC.  After volunteering in a variety of capacities over the years, Ellen joined the church staff as Director of Children’s Ministry in 2017.   Ellen considers it a privilege to be able to combine her experience in education with her passion for faith formation in service to others every day.  Ellen and Dan are proud parents to two awesome teenagers, Lillie and Ryan.

Tanner Johnson grew up in south Florida and graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Religion and Family and Child Science. Go Noles! Throughout college, Tanner served at Warren Willis UMC Camp & Conference Center each summer and volunteered in the local UMC Youth Ministries during the school year.

Following graduation in 2017, Tanner moved to the Raleigh area and has been here ever since. In 2021, Tanner started as our Youth Ministry Director & met his future bride – Nicole. They live in Apex with their 3 dogs.

Brittney grew up in the Methodist Church attending First UMC in Gastonia, NC. She participated in children’s and youth handbells, youth group and served as an acolyte and crucifer during her time there.

She is an East Carolina University School of Communication graduate (BS) and a School of Business graduate (MBA). In college, she attended ECU’s Wesley Foundation and sang in the Wesley Singers group. During graduate school she married her husband, Brian, in her hometown church. They lived in Greenville and Cary before they settled in Apex, NC. They have been members of Apex UMC since 2013.

Brittney worked in corporate ecommerce and marketing for several years before having their two children. She joined the Apex UMC team in March 2022 as the interim Communications Administrator and officially joined the team in July 2022 as Communications & Digital Media Administrator. She enjoys movies, crafting, photography, traveling, participating in the Chancel Choir and Grace Notes handbell group at Apex UMC and watching her children in choir and play sports.

Patrick grew up in the northeastern part of North Carolina, actively involved in his youth group at Ahoskie UMC. He graduated from East Carolina University in May 2018 with a degree in Music Composition, where he also played trumpet in various ensembles, including Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and the Symphony Orchestra. After college, he served locally as a UMC youth/music director in the Sound District for over 4 years.

Patrick started as an interim here in August 2024. His passion is to know and make known the hope of Jesus Christ through love and music, and seeing God’s children of all ages taking part in worship!

Patrick loves disc golf, NCCUMC Breakaway, adventures and quality time with friends and family, seeing live shows, and has a slight obsession with Lord of the Rings.

Deborah and her husband, Craig, along with their oldest sons, Tyler and Austin, moved to Apex from Charleston, SC in July of 2000.  They began attending Apex UMC the next month and quickly knew they found their church home.   Their family was completed with their 3rd son, Carter, in 2001. Having 3 sons, Deborah loved getting her “girl fix” in the Nursery and wanted a part time job that would allow Carter some social time so she joined the Apex UMC staff as the Nursery Coordinator in August 2002. She is deeply thankful for each and every one of her dedicated team members and is sure they would not be able to meet the childcare demands of the church without such a fantastic team.

In addition to her role in the Nursery, Deborah is a Stephen Minister, a member of the Laity Care team and the Resounding Grace Handbell choir. She loves being a boy mom and her full time career in Real Estate. She tends to work 24/7 for her clients and feels her position as a real estate agent is deeply connected to her serving mindset.   She is grateful for the opportunity to meet and work with new people every day assisting with selling, buying or investing in the Real Estate Market.

Deborah and Craig have enjoyed serving through the years with the Usher team, Wednesday Meal team, Men’s BBQ, Coffee Café, Children’s Ministry and various other activities and events. They have 3 pets: Truffles, a 15 year old Havapoo, Bob, a rescued Bearded Dragon and Misty an adopted 11 year old Chihuahua. As empty nesters, Deborah and Craig enjoy just hanging out together; walking, weight training, cooking, attending car shows and events, spending time with their adult kids and traveling. Deborah is addicted to playing pickleball and her favorite books are the Karen Kingsbury novels.

Norma is a N.C. native and was born at Watts Hospital (now known as the NC School of Science and Math). She grew up in Durham County near RDU, where she was a member of Andrews Chapel UMC. Norma graduated as a Registered Nurse from Watts School of Nursing. She worked in the Operating Room at Duke Hospital for over 7 years. She married Bob and  they later  moved to Wake County. She became a stay at home mom, when her first son was born. They now have five sons, Matthew, Christopher, Michael, Joshua, and Noah. Over the years, she was a preschool teacher and volunteered in many different areas of Children’s and Youth Ministries. She became a member of Apex UMC in 2010. In January 2017, she became interim for Children’s Ministry and Associate Director of Children’s Ministry in September that year. She enjoys music, art, reading, cooking, and anything involving her kids. She loves kids and believes it is our responsibility to help raise them up.

Joette came to Apex UMC in 1991 as substitute organist and never left! She has a degree in Music from Longwood College and achieved National Board Certification in Music in 1994. She retired from the Wake County School system in 2012. She loves the Chancel Choir and Apex UMC.